An Author And His Daughter Took A Vacation To A Small Town In Maine. What Happened Next Will SHOCK You
Silent Hill was not my first horror game. That honor goes to Clock Tower on the Super Famicom, which introduced me to the innate pleasures of having your guts spooked off. It also wasn't my first traditional survival horror game - that would be the 2002 remake of Resident Evil, which made me realize that just because you have a gun does not mean you are safe. However, Silent Hill was the first horror game I played that made me feel something more than just fear. It made me think, not just about the place of horror in video games but also the things that make us afraid. It made me positively convinced that video games were the ideal medium for horror: That the easiest way to get somebody to sweat is to put them in the driver's seat. And what's more, it showed me that horror and fear are very multifaceted things, and that I had a definite interest in exploring all of the branches of that path. So basically, it ruined my life, and I'm very thankful for that.
I will note that while I'm not giving any explicit story spoilers, I will be including screenshots, music and touching on game mechanics (including how to achieve different endings), so if you want to go in completely blind, I recommend skipping on this review until you've tried it yourself.
Even after dropping the disc into my PSone, I still have difficulty reckoning with the fact this is an actual game that was released in 1999. Everything about it feels so strangely ahead of its time. The psychological slant to the game's horror immediately sets it apart from its contemporaries, which is naturally a big part of why it's so fondly remembered today. It's a visual feast, with Silent Hill's frequent switches between a dim, snowy ghost town and a fever dream of blood, steel and rust making you feel an almost perverse kind of joy when returning to the former from the latter. The series' trademark fog, assuredly as much a product of pragmatism as it was a deliberate artistic decision, performs admirably in its task of making the vast stretches of asphalt and concrete feel endless and fraught with unseen danger. Indeed, the denizens of that fog have inspired designs that are wonderfully woeful abstractions of otherwise ordinary creatures. Once the lights go out, your flashlight will be your sole source of relief - although relief is perhaps not the right word, as it will just as readily confirm your fears of the dark as it will assuage them. At its absolute best, the use of lighting in Silent Hill is stunning, providing a lovely juxtaposition between fully realized horror and the fear of the unknown. Even age hasn't necessarily rounded the edge off: The low-resolution textures lend a degree of ambiguity to everything, making your surroundings appear as a waking nightmare. This has not gone unnoticed by modern game developers. It's all capped off by Akira Yamaoka's phenomenal sound direction, which brings the horror to life in ways simply not seen in games up to that point. A symphony of frantic synths, thunderous percussion and monstrous mechanical noise punctuate the high-tension moments, while his more mellowed-out stylings provide a mesmerizing and almost relaxing vibe for the spaces between. The creaking of ancient doors and the clanking of metal beneath your feet. A screeching radio alerts you to the presence of enemies, and a droning air raid siren heralds a shift in scenery. And of course, despite the powerful soundscape, there is clearly still an understanding of the value of silence. It really is a masterclass in creating a disturbing atmosphere, and while there have been plenty of developers to follow in Silent Hill's massive footsteps, I still think we haven't seen anything quite like it to this day - even within the series itself, post-Team Silent.
Darting from building to building trying to keep your face un-chewed, especially in the later of portions of the game, is a delightfully panic-inducing exercise. Once you're behind closed doors, whatever safety you felt in managing to get off of the streets is quickly replaced by the dread of navigating dark and dilapidated corridors and rooms filled with brand new atrocities. Resident Evil famously made the opening of each door a point of suspense, but Silent Hill managed to accomplish much the same without the need to dramatize the action of it. You'll hesitate opening that door purely because you're uncertain you really want to see what's on the other side (if it opens at all, but that's a totally different conversation). Sometimes you'll hear the most awful noise with no apparent source. Sometimes you'll walk through a door only to exit into a place it very clearly should not have. Sometimes the game outright gaslights you. It's a hellish experience from start to finish, and if you allow yourself to be absorbed it will continue to haunt you for a long time after the fact.
A big part of what makes the horrors of Silent Hill so potent is the way Harry's position as "Guy Everyman" is leveraged. Once the controls are handed over to you, the player, you have about about as much of a clue as to what's going on as our hero does. Every time he says "what", you're probably right there with him, even if the lack of emotion in his delivery doesn't adequately represent your own level of concern. The antagonists know it, too - they willfully keep Harry in the dark about what's really going on in the town, aware that they can get him to do what they want so long as they're just vague enough in giving him "advice". He's getting strung along, and you are, too. Harry, for his part, doesn't have time to care. He only wants to save his daughter. You might not be able to directly sympathize with his motivations, but you can assuredly understand why he would be willing to literally go to Hell and back.
Of course, the designers are counting on you not wasting any time in your endeavors to escape town, and have at least one or two pitfalls awaiting you. If you just do as you're told, paying close attention throughout, you will likely still unravel the mystery behind this hellscape... Though perhaps a bit too late to do anything meaningful with the revelation. Admittedly, the execution here is a bit sloppy. Getting the best endings requires behaving in a manner somewhat disingenuous for a concerned father. Obscure requirements to earn your bittersweet finale are by no means uncommon in this genre. However, given Harry's objective is (understandably) to find Cheryl and get the hell out of the proverbial Dodge, it feels a little extreme that actually accomplishing this task requires putting his quest on the backburner to further risk his life in a few out of the way buildings and alleys. If there was anybody in town who both knew the truth and wanted Harry to know, it'd be a bit more understandable. But since you're largely on your own here, you're likely to have your "oooooh" moment a stone's throw from the staff roll. It makes a second playthrough feel like more of an obligation rather than the result of a lack of foresight on the player's part.
And as you can probably imagine, it's really the gameplay itself where the experience starts to fall apart for Silent Hill. Everything about it is perfectly typical for the time period in which it was released. Harry controls like a tank. You collect weapons and ammunition and health items and plot coupons. Solve puzzles, kill enemies, do everything you can to survive until that next save point. While plenty at the time were making a point of Konami's latest being "more than just a Resident Evil clone", it's easy enough to imagine how some people might come to that conclusion: Written out on paper, the two series barely sound any different. Silent Hill's interpretation of those concepts is perfectly inoffensive, and perhaps even less so than other examples due to the relative lack of static camera angles and pre-rendered environments. It also eschews other common aspects of the survival horror genre, such as inventory management and limited saves. And yet, precisely because the game is so straightforward comparatively, it makes the gameplay tropes that are here feel a bit toothless and vestigial. The handful of puzzles in the game are either brain-dead easy or weirdly obtuse, but in either case aren't what I would call mentally stimulating. Your foes are great in number and definitely unpleasant to face down, but you'll quickly find that there's never much reason to loiter out in the open and thus can spend a large portion of your time simply kiting them and saving your bullets for when they're absolutely necessary. The game is plenty generous with regards to ammunition and restoratives, and if you play your cards right you'll only rarely need to dip into those pools, as the more confined spaces you'll spend the majority of your time in are perfectly manageable with melee weapons. Once you find the emergency hammer, anything short of a full-on ambush will fall before the might of Harry. Overall, for as oppressive as your surroundings are, the game mechanics themselves don't lend to the dread as much as you might hope they would. The only real sticking point there is the bosses, some of which are capable of killing Harry in one or two hits even on Normal difficulty. While it totally makes sense for an ordinary human being to drop dead after being plugged twice in the chest, it doesn't make for an especially climactic fight. It feels like a concession for the level of challenge being fairly low otherwise, but I'm undecided on whether or not playing on Hard necessarily rectifies these issues or just makes the experience more frustrating. Of course, I am also speaking from the perspective of somebody who has played these kinds of games a plethora of times, so perhaps everything will still stick the landing for most people. There is the obligatory ranking system, so if you're eager to prove yourself, you can pour some time into trying to achieve the full ten stars.
The game's narrative can be hit-or-miss as well. The writing gets the job done but is sometimes a bit too dry for its own good, leading to some unintentionally humorous moments. The accompanying voice acting, while surprisingly decent for the time, is sorely lacking in emotional weight. The story isn't especially deep, either, although it is definitely well thought out and it leaves enough room open for personal interpretation. Other aspects of the world of Silent Hill have been explored plenty in the game's numbered sequels. On the presentation level, while many still find the chunky and muddy visuals appealing, it is nonetheless a 3D game from the 90s and it shows. At the very least, the CG - while still a little uncanny at times - has held up remarkably well and stands out as being one of the better examples from that time period, even placed next to works from the likes of companies like Square. In my personal opinion, the full package still feels remarkably fresh in spite of being nearly two and a half decades old. However, like any major media milestone, how much mileage you get out of it may largely come down to how new you are to the scene, or at the very least how cognizant you are of the impact the game has had.
When all is said and done, Silent Hill is far from being a perfect game, but I think it's a beautiful one regardless. Team Silent tried to create something unique and darkly affecting, and I think it's fair to say they wholly succeeded. Just like the protagonists of each game, some of us stepped into Silent Hill, and some may have even escaped - but I will never be able to forget that town for as long as I live. If you haven't experienced it yourself, then find a way to play it, turn out the lights and slap on a pair of headphones. If you come back from your little vacation satisfied, then you're in luck - this is only the beginning.
Silent Hill was not my first horror game. That honor goes to Clock Tower on the Super Famicom, which introduced me to the innate pleasures of having your guts spooked off. It also wasn't my first traditional survival horror game - that would be the 2002 remake of Resident Evil, which made me realize that just because you have a gun does not mean you are safe. However, Silent Hill was the first horror game I played that made me feel something more than just fear. It made me think, not just about the place of horror in video games but also the things that make us afraid. It made me positively convinced that video games were the ideal medium for horror: That the easiest way to get somebody to sweat is to put them in the driver's seat. And what's more, it showed me that horror and fear are very multifaceted things, and that I had a definite interest in exploring all of the branches of that path. So basically, it ruined my life, and I'm very thankful for that.
I will note that while I'm not giving any explicit story spoilers, I will be including screenshots, music and touching on game mechanics (including how to achieve different endings), so if you want to go in completely blind, I recommend skipping on this review until you've tried it yourself.
Even after dropping the disc into my PSone, I still have difficulty reckoning with the fact this is an actual game that was released in 1999. Everything about it feels so strangely ahead of its time. The psychological slant to the game's horror immediately sets it apart from its contemporaries, which is naturally a big part of why it's so fondly remembered today. It's a visual feast, with Silent Hill's frequent switches between a dim, snowy ghost town and a fever dream of blood, steel and rust making you feel an almost perverse kind of joy when returning to the former from the latter. The series' trademark fog, assuredly as much a product of pragmatism as it was a deliberate artistic decision, performs admirably in its task of making the vast stretches of asphalt and concrete feel endless and fraught with unseen danger. Indeed, the denizens of that fog have inspired designs that are wonderfully woeful abstractions of otherwise ordinary creatures. Once the lights go out, your flashlight will be your sole source of relief - although relief is perhaps not the right word, as it will just as readily confirm your fears of the dark as it will assuage them. At its absolute best, the use of lighting in Silent Hill is stunning, providing a lovely juxtaposition between fully realized horror and the fear of the unknown. Even age hasn't necessarily rounded the edge off: The low-resolution textures lend a degree of ambiguity to everything, making your surroundings appear as a waking nightmare. This has not gone unnoticed by modern game developers. It's all capped off by Akira Yamaoka's phenomenal sound direction, which brings the horror to life in ways simply not seen in games up to that point. A symphony of frantic synths, thunderous percussion and monstrous mechanical noise punctuate the high-tension moments, while his more mellowed-out stylings provide a mesmerizing and almost relaxing vibe for the spaces between. The creaking of ancient doors and the clanking of metal beneath your feet. A screeching radio alerts you to the presence of enemies, and a droning air raid siren heralds a shift in scenery. And of course, despite the powerful soundscape, there is clearly still an understanding of the value of silence. It really is a masterclass in creating a disturbing atmosphere, and while there have been plenty of developers to follow in Silent Hill's massive footsteps, I still think we haven't seen anything quite like it to this day - even within the series itself, post-Team Silent.
Darting from building to building trying to keep your face un-chewed, especially in the later of portions of the game, is a delightfully panic-inducing exercise. Once you're behind closed doors, whatever safety you felt in managing to get off of the streets is quickly replaced by the dread of navigating dark and dilapidated corridors and rooms filled with brand new atrocities. Resident Evil famously made the opening of each door a point of suspense, but Silent Hill managed to accomplish much the same without the need to dramatize the action of it. You'll hesitate opening that door purely because you're uncertain you really want to see what's on the other side (if it opens at all, but that's a totally different conversation). Sometimes you'll hear the most awful noise with no apparent source. Sometimes you'll walk through a door only to exit into a place it very clearly should not have. Sometimes the game outright gaslights you. It's a hellish experience from start to finish, and if you allow yourself to be absorbed it will continue to haunt you for a long time after the fact.
A big part of what makes the horrors of Silent Hill so potent is the way Harry's position as "Guy Everyman" is leveraged. Once the controls are handed over to you, the player, you have about about as much of a clue as to what's going on as our hero does. Every time he says "what", you're probably right there with him, even if the lack of emotion in his delivery doesn't adequately represent your own level of concern. The antagonists know it, too - they willfully keep Harry in the dark about what's really going on in the town, aware that they can get him to do what they want so long as they're just vague enough in giving him "advice". He's getting strung along, and you are, too. Harry, for his part, doesn't have time to care. He only wants to save his daughter. You might not be able to directly sympathize with his motivations, but you can assuredly understand why he would be willing to literally go to Hell and back.
Of course, the designers are counting on you not wasting any time in your endeavors to escape town, and have at least one or two pitfalls awaiting you. If you just do as you're told, paying close attention throughout, you will likely still unravel the mystery behind this hellscape... Though perhaps a bit too late to do anything meaningful with the revelation. Admittedly, the execution here is a bit sloppy. Getting the best endings requires behaving in a manner somewhat disingenuous for a concerned father. Obscure requirements to earn your bittersweet finale are by no means uncommon in this genre. However, given Harry's objective is (understandably) to find Cheryl and get the hell out of the proverbial Dodge, it feels a little extreme that actually accomplishing this task requires putting his quest on the backburner to further risk his life in a few out of the way buildings and alleys. If there was anybody in town who both knew the truth and wanted Harry to know, it'd be a bit more understandable. But since you're largely on your own here, you're likely to have your "oooooh" moment a stone's throw from the staff roll. It makes a second playthrough feel like more of an obligation rather than the result of a lack of foresight on the player's part.
And as you can probably imagine, it's really the gameplay itself where the experience starts to fall apart for Silent Hill. Everything about it is perfectly typical for the time period in which it was released. Harry controls like a tank. You collect weapons and ammunition and health items and plot coupons. Solve puzzles, kill enemies, do everything you can to survive until that next save point. While plenty at the time were making a point of Konami's latest being "more than just a Resident Evil clone", it's easy enough to imagine how some people might come to that conclusion: Written out on paper, the two series barely sound any different. Silent Hill's interpretation of those concepts is perfectly inoffensive, and perhaps even less so than other examples due to the relative lack of static camera angles and pre-rendered environments. It also eschews other common aspects of the survival horror genre, such as inventory management and limited saves. And yet, precisely because the game is so straightforward comparatively, it makes the gameplay tropes that are here feel a bit toothless and vestigial. The handful of puzzles in the game are either brain-dead easy or weirdly obtuse, but in either case aren't what I would call mentally stimulating. Your foes are great in number and definitely unpleasant to face down, but you'll quickly find that there's never much reason to loiter out in the open and thus can spend a large portion of your time simply kiting them and saving your bullets for when they're absolutely necessary. The game is plenty generous with regards to ammunition and restoratives, and if you play your cards right you'll only rarely need to dip into those pools, as the more confined spaces you'll spend the majority of your time in are perfectly manageable with melee weapons. Once you find the emergency hammer, anything short of a full-on ambush will fall before the might of Harry. Overall, for as oppressive as your surroundings are, the game mechanics themselves don't lend to the dread as much as you might hope they would. The only real sticking point there is the bosses, some of which are capable of killing Harry in one or two hits even on Normal difficulty. While it totally makes sense for an ordinary human being to drop dead after being plugged twice in the chest, it doesn't make for an especially climactic fight. It feels like a concession for the level of challenge being fairly low otherwise, but I'm undecided on whether or not playing on Hard necessarily rectifies these issues or just makes the experience more frustrating. Of course, I am also speaking from the perspective of somebody who has played these kinds of games a plethora of times, so perhaps everything will still stick the landing for most people. There is the obligatory ranking system, so if you're eager to prove yourself, you can pour some time into trying to achieve the full ten stars.
The game's narrative can be hit-or-miss as well. The writing gets the job done but is sometimes a bit too dry for its own good, leading to some unintentionally humorous moments. The accompanying voice acting, while surprisingly decent for the time, is sorely lacking in emotional weight. The story isn't especially deep, either, although it is definitely well thought out and it leaves enough room open for personal interpretation. Other aspects of the world of Silent Hill have been explored plenty in the game's numbered sequels. On the presentation level, while many still find the chunky and muddy visuals appealing, it is nonetheless a 3D game from the 90s and it shows. At the very least, the CG - while still a little uncanny at times - has held up remarkably well and stands out as being one of the better examples from that time period, even placed next to works from the likes of companies like Square. In my personal opinion, the full package still feels remarkably fresh in spite of being nearly two and a half decades old. However, like any major media milestone, how much mileage you get out of it may largely come down to how new you are to the scene, or at the very least how cognizant you are of the impact the game has had.
When all is said and done, Silent Hill is far from being a perfect game, but I think it's a beautiful one regardless. Team Silent tried to create something unique and darkly affecting, and I think it's fair to say they wholly succeeded. Just like the protagonists of each game, some of us stepped into Silent Hill, and some may have even escaped - but I will never be able to forget that town for as long as I live. If you haven't experienced it yourself, then find a way to play it, turn out the lights and slap on a pair of headphones. If you come back from your little vacation satisfied, then you're in luck - this is only the beginning.
What Silent Hill does so well that I feel most horror media didn’t around the same time, was create a genuinely disturbing and memorable atmosphere.
Too many times in the 90s, horror media was all B tier blood and guts gory bullshit that didn’t leave an actual impact on you as the viewer. When a game can take what movies with higher budgets are attempting to do, and turn it into something I feel is top of the line in that category, it’s truly something special.
You will not find a plethora of cheap jump scares to make you squeal, but rather area after area of images and sounds that will bother something inside of you. A lot of the time during my play through, I would hesitantly go through a door or up a flight of stairs, worried the next images I am about to see are going to stick with me even more than the last.
I love psychological horror themes, often creating a sense of dread within your own mind rather than worrying only for Harry.
Even the slow movements and fixed camera compliment the tension while trying to escape as quickly as you can. It’s almost as if Toyama knew how the average Joe would respond to being in this type of situation.
Honestly the only thing here I’m not too fond of is how slow some of the melee attacks can be, considering a large portion of the in between areas encourage you to use them.
Nevertheless, Silent Hill is what more horror media should strive to be. 9/10.
Too many times in the 90s, horror media was all B tier blood and guts gory bullshit that didn’t leave an actual impact on you as the viewer. When a game can take what movies with higher budgets are attempting to do, and turn it into something I feel is top of the line in that category, it’s truly something special.
You will not find a plethora of cheap jump scares to make you squeal, but rather area after area of images and sounds that will bother something inside of you. A lot of the time during my play through, I would hesitantly go through a door or up a flight of stairs, worried the next images I am about to see are going to stick with me even more than the last.
I love psychological horror themes, often creating a sense of dread within your own mind rather than worrying only for Harry.
Even the slow movements and fixed camera compliment the tension while trying to escape as quickly as you can. It’s almost as if Toyama knew how the average Joe would respond to being in this type of situation.
Honestly the only thing here I’m not too fond of is how slow some of the melee attacks can be, considering a large portion of the in between areas encourage you to use them.
Nevertheless, Silent Hill is what more horror media should strive to be. 9/10.
This has become my 2nd favorite SH game on replay. It has wider variety and exploration of the town than 2 and 3 despite being an early 3D title, and has more terrifying moments and better bosses than 2. It still impresses me despite its age. Should have been the one to get remade so people who complain about old control styles would give it a fair shot because the story and various endings are really cool
This review contains spoilers
I finished the game for the first time some months ago (I got the bad ending which I actually liked, is this the first instance of a game going "the protagonist is dead and it's all on his head" played seriously?), but I did abstain myself from giving it a solid veredict untill I experienced at least another ending, just to be fair.
I've avoided spoilers for this game for literal years, something about the general vibes I got from the few glances I got from this game told me that it was worth it untill I could finally play it, and I was right.
I want to start with the obvious, I think that this game is beautiful. The thing with the fog hiding the city enough so that it can render properly (that gaming fun fact everyone knows) works so good in action, I think the misterious atmosphere is great, it feels oppresive but in a way a bit relaxing, and the illusion of a map of such size on a ps1 is impressive even if you know what's going on. I love the care in which the city was built, I surprised myself thinking "wow I whould actually like to spend a small vacation here, fog and monsters aside this looks like a pretty town", the details on the structures and shops and houses are very charming, and that adds to the uneasiness of them being fully abandoned.
I feel this way towards the Other World too, I am a fan of old horror movie sets, body horror and stuff. I truly believe that they are aesthetically pretty.
Oh and the cutscenes look very good for the time, very expresive and good looking faces.
The main thing of course, the meat of the game it's the horror. This is one of those pieces of media that you know were super influential to many that came after and when you experience it you get why. Just the starting premise, the anxiety of a father looking for his lost daughter alone is nerve wracking, and things keep piling on and on and on.
The oniric, almost hypnotic feel of it all, coupled with the fixed camera in some areas sell the experience as a horror tv show or movie perfectly.
And for a while that was it for me, I explored a bit, moved on with the story, the monsters stopped being scary and started being annoying mostly, I got the bad ending and I was ready to leave it as being a spooky gaming experience.
And then there on the screen on big golden letters it reads "New Fear".
I immediately started a new playthrough.
I think that not seeing the intro cutscene is intentional, being pitch black before Harry wakes up again at the very beggining. To me that alone made something click, the cyclical nature of the horrors and everything that Silent Hill represents, it's all a special neverending nightmare for every character involved, it was genius.
I explored more, I discovered more that the game has so many little secrets and references.
I started being more careful with enemies since the difficulty was up, I started rationing my ammom started being more careful on my routes, I started actually fearing the ringing of my radio, at one point I just turned off the light and walked through hallways solwly avoiding enemies prayind that they won't bump into me so I whouldn't have to make a run for it just yet. The real danger had set in for me and I loved it.
The more I discovered of the characters too, but especially Alessa, with the full context of Silent Hill being a manifestation of the horrible trauma that she cannot escape from, not even with death, and how said trauma swallows everyone else and her town, all thanks to the hands of the people that were supposed to protect her, a child, her mother and doctor. I feel bad for not being able to articulate this better, but the more you look into certain parts of the game with those lenses it makes some details hit you harder, that classroom with the single desk at the end of Nowhere hit especially hard for me...
Harry's involvement into this feels like a coincidense but something tells me that it was not, especially with what I saw getting the Good Ending the second time around, how much can you step into the physical manifestation of the psyche of a suffering person untill it merges with a part of you? This was what (can potentially) kill Cybil, what can it do to Harry or his daughter.
There's too much to talk about this game and a lot has already been said, I'll just leave it at that by the end of playthrough number 2 I was enchanted with it all.
Something sinister yet beautifull calls you to Silent Hill, and to me that's proof of the game acomplishing it's goal.
Eh what the hell, another playthrough won't hurt.
I've avoided spoilers for this game for literal years, something about the general vibes I got from the few glances I got from this game told me that it was worth it untill I could finally play it, and I was right.
I want to start with the obvious, I think that this game is beautiful. The thing with the fog hiding the city enough so that it can render properly (that gaming fun fact everyone knows) works so good in action, I think the misterious atmosphere is great, it feels oppresive but in a way a bit relaxing, and the illusion of a map of such size on a ps1 is impressive even if you know what's going on. I love the care in which the city was built, I surprised myself thinking "wow I whould actually like to spend a small vacation here, fog and monsters aside this looks like a pretty town", the details on the structures and shops and houses are very charming, and that adds to the uneasiness of them being fully abandoned.
I feel this way towards the Other World too, I am a fan of old horror movie sets, body horror and stuff. I truly believe that they are aesthetically pretty.
Oh and the cutscenes look very good for the time, very expresive and good looking faces.
The main thing of course, the meat of the game it's the horror. This is one of those pieces of media that you know were super influential to many that came after and when you experience it you get why. Just the starting premise, the anxiety of a father looking for his lost daughter alone is nerve wracking, and things keep piling on and on and on.
The oniric, almost hypnotic feel of it all, coupled with the fixed camera in some areas sell the experience as a horror tv show or movie perfectly.
And for a while that was it for me, I explored a bit, moved on with the story, the monsters stopped being scary and started being annoying mostly, I got the bad ending and I was ready to leave it as being a spooky gaming experience.
And then there on the screen on big golden letters it reads "New Fear".
I immediately started a new playthrough.
I think that not seeing the intro cutscene is intentional, being pitch black before Harry wakes up again at the very beggining. To me that alone made something click, the cyclical nature of the horrors and everything that Silent Hill represents, it's all a special neverending nightmare for every character involved, it was genius.
I explored more, I discovered more that the game has so many little secrets and references.
I started being more careful with enemies since the difficulty was up, I started rationing my ammom started being more careful on my routes, I started actually fearing the ringing of my radio, at one point I just turned off the light and walked through hallways solwly avoiding enemies prayind that they won't bump into me so I whouldn't have to make a run for it just yet. The real danger had set in for me and I loved it.
The more I discovered of the characters too, but especially Alessa, with the full context of Silent Hill being a manifestation of the horrible trauma that she cannot escape from, not even with death, and how said trauma swallows everyone else and her town, all thanks to the hands of the people that were supposed to protect her, a child, her mother and doctor. I feel bad for not being able to articulate this better, but the more you look into certain parts of the game with those lenses it makes some details hit you harder, that classroom with the single desk at the end of Nowhere hit especially hard for me...
Harry's involvement into this feels like a coincidense but something tells me that it was not, especially with what I saw getting the Good Ending the second time around, how much can you step into the physical manifestation of the psyche of a suffering person untill it merges with a part of you? This was what (can potentially) kill Cybil, what can it do to Harry or his daughter.
There's too much to talk about this game and a lot has already been said, I'll just leave it at that by the end of playthrough number 2 I was enchanted with it all.
Something sinister yet beautifull calls you to Silent Hill, and to me that's proof of the game acomplishing it's goal.
Eh what the hell, another playthrough won't hurt.
Acho que eu gostaria muito mais se tivesse jogado na época, mas como não é o caso, não gostei tanto.
Porém a história é muito interessante, definitivamente vou jogar os outros
Porém a história é muito interessante, definitivamente vou jogar os outros
This review contains spoilers
A trip to Silent Hill I will never forget, my bias wanted to rate this game higher, legendary music and an atmosphere unparalled to what I've played of horror so far (almost nothing, I'm building my treshold of not getting so scared playing horror games, lol.)
The plot made me desperate to save Harry's daughter Cheryl with all my strengths, I loved to walk around the streets of Silent Hill, immerse myself in the fog, but at the same time it made me feel extremely uneasy running away from weird enemies who were trying to kill me.
Found the story easy to understand but while writing this review I have not witnessed the other endings, I got a bad ending due to missing a item and not entering a building in which I did not know the code apparently, it's not gonna make me wanna replay the game.
I regret using my ammo with pointless street enemies, really struggled with Cybil Bennett monster boss fight which I finally learned to maneuver myself with the melee weapons.
Since I got the bad ending, had to fight The Incubator in which I didn't even have enough ammo to defeat the boss and the area before the boss didn't have any meaningful ammo (and guess, this guy didn' t get the rifle), unfortunately had to turn on an infinite ammo cheat on my Duckstation emulator to finish the boss fight, I hated the ending, wasn't what I was looking for, but oh well, YT will help me on that one.
I will look back into this as a truly unique experience and while I don't play the Silent Hill 2 masterpiece, I will foundly remember my Silent Hill moments for life.
The logic of some puzzles didn't make any sense to me: (piano and zodiac signs)
The plot made me desperate to save Harry's daughter Cheryl with all my strengths, I loved to walk around the streets of Silent Hill, immerse myself in the fog, but at the same time it made me feel extremely uneasy running away from weird enemies who were trying to kill me.
Found the story easy to understand but while writing this review I have not witnessed the other endings, I got a bad ending due to missing a item and not entering a building in which I did not know the code apparently, it's not gonna make me wanna replay the game.
I regret using my ammo with pointless street enemies, really struggled with Cybil Bennett monster boss fight which I finally learned to maneuver myself with the melee weapons.
Since I got the bad ending, had to fight The Incubator in which I didn't even have enough ammo to defeat the boss and the area before the boss didn't have any meaningful ammo (and guess, this guy didn' t get the rifle), unfortunately had to turn on an infinite ammo cheat on my Duckstation emulator to finish the boss fight, I hated the ending, wasn't what I was looking for, but oh well, YT will help me on that one.
I will look back into this as a truly unique experience and while I don't play the Silent Hill 2 masterpiece, I will foundly remember my Silent Hill moments for life.
The logic of some puzzles didn't make any sense to me: (piano and zodiac signs)
Everytime I see fog outside, I go "holy shit Silent Hill reference"
24 Years later and the Town of Silent Hill still calls to me.....
Silent Hill is very important blueprint for the series as well as the Survival Horror Genre as a whole. As much as the name has fallen from grace this last decade or so it is very important to come back to it and see how it all started. As it is the first game of the series, it certainly has a lot of good elements that carried on through the rest of the series. By itself Silent Hill has aged very well in terms of Gameplay and Fear Factor. There were certain elements where I was still spooked and enemies I did not want to deal with when I saw them. Where it has not aged well is in its tank controls as it is very stiff at times and very unresponsive coming from playing SH2/3. To add sometimes its story requires the player to put story pieces together to find out all the clues to the overall story of silent hill besides finding your missing daughter which is the main focus here. It does not hold your hand which can deter some folks into playing this game but I would recommend a walkthrough for new folks or even watch someone play it on stream or YouTube. It is very entertaining to say the least.
I managed to get the Good + ending finishing the story in about 3:55hr of Game time. Although it may seem short, it is a very exciting to play moving through all the areas of Silent Hill. There is alot to replay as well. There is a New Game + which unlocks after the first playthrough and from there you can replay to get Bad, Bad +, Good, Good+ or even the MEME "Joke" ending (No Spoilers here).
Akira Yamaoka (The Composer) certainly elevates the game to a higher standard due to its music timing and its soundtrack usage. There is never a dull moment where Mr. Yamaoka fails. The Game Clear music is a absolute BANGER.
The Cutscenes are as good as they can be and the voice overs are also not bad for its time. You can tell that there is a certain cheese that carries over in the series and I think its a good thing!
Overall, Silent Hill is a very important game for Survival Horror and also the PlayStation 1. Many say this is one of the GOATs of Gaming and I agree to some extent. It not priced at 100+ dollars for no reason for collecting lol.
I would recommend playing it via PS3 emulation as you can still purchase it in the store I believe it is $5-9.99 USD. Save yourself a pretty penny! Give it a chance if you have not played it! It is Video Game History after all! I would recommend playing it once in your lifetime!
Silent Hill is very important blueprint for the series as well as the Survival Horror Genre as a whole. As much as the name has fallen from grace this last decade or so it is very important to come back to it and see how it all started. As it is the first game of the series, it certainly has a lot of good elements that carried on through the rest of the series. By itself Silent Hill has aged very well in terms of Gameplay and Fear Factor. There were certain elements where I was still spooked and enemies I did not want to deal with when I saw them. Where it has not aged well is in its tank controls as it is very stiff at times and very unresponsive coming from playing SH2/3. To add sometimes its story requires the player to put story pieces together to find out all the clues to the overall story of silent hill besides finding your missing daughter which is the main focus here. It does not hold your hand which can deter some folks into playing this game but I would recommend a walkthrough for new folks or even watch someone play it on stream or YouTube. It is very entertaining to say the least.
I managed to get the Good + ending finishing the story in about 3:55hr of Game time. Although it may seem short, it is a very exciting to play moving through all the areas of Silent Hill. There is alot to replay as well. There is a New Game + which unlocks after the first playthrough and from there you can replay to get Bad, Bad +, Good, Good+ or even the MEME "Joke" ending (No Spoilers here).
Akira Yamaoka (The Composer) certainly elevates the game to a higher standard due to its music timing and its soundtrack usage. There is never a dull moment where Mr. Yamaoka fails. The Game Clear music is a absolute BANGER.
The Cutscenes are as good as they can be and the voice overs are also not bad for its time. You can tell that there is a certain cheese that carries over in the series and I think its a good thing!
Overall, Silent Hill is a very important game for Survival Horror and also the PlayStation 1. Many say this is one of the GOATs of Gaming and I agree to some extent. It not priced at 100+ dollars for no reason for collecting lol.
I would recommend playing it via PS3 emulation as you can still purchase it in the store I believe it is $5-9.99 USD. Save yourself a pretty penny! Give it a chance if you have not played it! It is Video Game History after all! I would recommend playing it once in your lifetime!
This was my first time playing any Silent Hill title, and I think this game has aged really well overall. I struggled with the controls at first but in the end I had fun learning a control scheme that I wasn't familiar with. The combat is simple but fun, and the game is very fair with resource allocation and difficulty. It's still scary despite the limited graphics, mostly owing to the impressive sound design, and I love the music and atmosphere.
I admittedly played the game with a walkthrough and save states, mostly to save time, and this honestly saved me a lot of frustration because the game can be extremely opaque in regards to how you are expected to progress. My favorite sections were the indoor areas like the school and hospital because they were the most intuitive and rewarding in terms of exploration and puzzles.
Where this game fell short for me was story. I do like the surreal, stilted dialogue, but I frankly felt underwhelmed by the plot. I would like to replay this at some point and experience all of the endings, so maybe my opinion will change, but I just wished there was more to the story. All this being said, Silent Hill is still very much worth playing and is a strong start to the series.
I admittedly played the game with a walkthrough and save states, mostly to save time, and this honestly saved me a lot of frustration because the game can be extremely opaque in regards to how you are expected to progress. My favorite sections were the indoor areas like the school and hospital because they were the most intuitive and rewarding in terms of exploration and puzzles.
Where this game fell short for me was story. I do like the surreal, stilted dialogue, but I frankly felt underwhelmed by the plot. I would like to replay this at some point and experience all of the endings, so maybe my opinion will change, but I just wished there was more to the story. All this being said, Silent Hill is still very much worth playing and is a strong start to the series.
For my first time ever playing this, I can see how much this game inspired the medium. Such an amazing game, that still got a couple jumps out of me.
Harry wakes up in a wrecked car and the passenger seat is empty. Heather is missing. He crawls out of the ruins of the vehicle and stumbles onto the street, swallowed by a thick fog. The ghost town you find yourself in is smothered out of any visible signs of life. Snow is falling gently. Only your footsteps echo in company as you prod along the lonely streets. A mirage of your daughter vanishes behind the corner and you shout at her desperately to wait. You sprint into the alleway to catch her, but when you turn around the corner, you only find the massacred remains of flesh and blood in place of your missing girl. The spine of an animal is the only thing you can make out in the mush of guts that resembles anything. That is when everything starts to tighten, when you feel short of breath. A siren wails in the distance, it’s prolonged cry piercing the air with unresolvable panic. You run ahead, but you can’t be sure if you are running to something or away from it. The tight fixed camera angle of the alleyway gets narrower and you're beginning to squeeze yourself into the nightmare; the camera can’t even hold its footing. It trembles out of fear, swaying frantically, distancing as far away from Harry as it can, looking for an escape. It gets darker and darker, until Harry is forced to put a match out to not lose himself. In the darkness the world is shaking with banging and screaming, the camera is spinning all around. A trail of blood leads to an appalling crucified corpse, rotting with meat tangled in rusty barbed wire all round blocking the way. The light has almost faded and you can’t escape the maze. In the insanity of banging metals and scraping pipes you get attacked by something you can’t describe. Small creatures gnaw at your feet and stab you with their knives and you can’t do anything. You don’t know what's happening yet, utterly helpless you just wait for the nightmare to end. Right then Harry wakes up, gasping for air. His eyes are wide open, but the nightmare hasn’t ended. Silent Hill awaits you.
That is how you open your game. Hooked right away I was surprised the more I progressed through it. How, despite its ancient two decade plus age, a end of the millennium video game piece of technology could preserve its tone and stand its aesthetic ground. More than that, I even started seeing it as timeless. There is potential in retro texture work and low poly models that wasn't apparent to me before as it is now; horror might take advantage of more than any other genre. The jagged corners of the pre anti-aliasing days and the muddled texture work give clear enough information, but they also suggest. I can see that rusty door and its brown unappealing colouring, yet I can only imagine what horrors that gave it its tint. Objects just seem that much stranger, as if the way you see them is the closest someone could make them out from memory. This isn’t something unique to Silent Hill, but I hope we see these technical limitations of the past as an aesthetic choice in the future more and more.
The proportions are also way off, which adds to this unsettling feeling. Everything is a bit too big, a bit too wide. The streets are so much wider than they should be that there exists a space between opposite pavements, where you can walk, but not see either side of the street. Just fog and nothingness. It all accumulates in this surreal dreamy quality that is rarely matched to this day. What helps greatly too, is the effectiveness of the cinematography, if we might call it that. Fixed camera angles just shouldn’t have left mainstream gaming. They paint a picture and create tension in a way modern interactive right analog stick cameras can’t. It hits different when you press the handle of an old creaky door and enter a room where you don't see what is in front of you, but rather, see the character looking at the space beyond with the wall behind his back. The camera doesn’t let you see much and it induces anxiety, as you hear something coming closer way over the edges of the screen.
I don’t know what black magic and ritual sacrifice Team Silent performed to make this sound the way it does, but they made the official soundtrack to all your darkest nightmares. Absolutely legendary work.
What this ultimately is about as a narrative is of little importance. In a classical sense the story isn’t any good. It barely has a plot for things to keep moving and it completely loses me every time it ventures into ramblings of esoteric bullshit, occult crackpot gibberish and alien rubbish. The established atmosphere is so effective that explanations of things damage the psychological undertone that is present throughout the game. When it relies on writing it’s abhorrent. The Twin Peaks influence here is apparent, but the Lynchian approach to dialogue just doesn’t work out. It’s stilted and uninteresting and I couldn’t wait for it to be over. It’s not all bad though, because by the end, there is a death scene so peculiar and strangely sad that I remembered it for days after. There seems to be so much beneath the uppermost layer of this game. I'm sure that is why it has the following it does. I can’t wait to try the sequel.
That is how you open your game. Hooked right away I was surprised the more I progressed through it. How, despite its ancient two decade plus age, a end of the millennium video game piece of technology could preserve its tone and stand its aesthetic ground. More than that, I even started seeing it as timeless. There is potential in retro texture work and low poly models that wasn't apparent to me before as it is now; horror might take advantage of more than any other genre. The jagged corners of the pre anti-aliasing days and the muddled texture work give clear enough information, but they also suggest. I can see that rusty door and its brown unappealing colouring, yet I can only imagine what horrors that gave it its tint. Objects just seem that much stranger, as if the way you see them is the closest someone could make them out from memory. This isn’t something unique to Silent Hill, but I hope we see these technical limitations of the past as an aesthetic choice in the future more and more.
The proportions are also way off, which adds to this unsettling feeling. Everything is a bit too big, a bit too wide. The streets are so much wider than they should be that there exists a space between opposite pavements, where you can walk, but not see either side of the street. Just fog and nothingness. It all accumulates in this surreal dreamy quality that is rarely matched to this day. What helps greatly too, is the effectiveness of the cinematography, if we might call it that. Fixed camera angles just shouldn’t have left mainstream gaming. They paint a picture and create tension in a way modern interactive right analog stick cameras can’t. It hits different when you press the handle of an old creaky door and enter a room where you don't see what is in front of you, but rather, see the character looking at the space beyond with the wall behind his back. The camera doesn’t let you see much and it induces anxiety, as you hear something coming closer way over the edges of the screen.
I don’t know what black magic and ritual sacrifice Team Silent performed to make this sound the way it does, but they made the official soundtrack to all your darkest nightmares. Absolutely legendary work.
What this ultimately is about as a narrative is of little importance. In a classical sense the story isn’t any good. It barely has a plot for things to keep moving and it completely loses me every time it ventures into ramblings of esoteric bullshit, occult crackpot gibberish and alien rubbish. The established atmosphere is so effective that explanations of things damage the psychological undertone that is present throughout the game. When it relies on writing it’s abhorrent. The Twin Peaks influence here is apparent, but the Lynchian approach to dialogue just doesn’t work out. It’s stilted and uninteresting and I couldn’t wait for it to be over. It’s not all bad though, because by the end, there is a death scene so peculiar and strangely sad that I remembered it for days after. There seems to be so much beneath the uppermost layer of this game. I'm sure that is why it has the following it does. I can’t wait to try the sequel.
Not as hard or scary as I was expecting, but a masterpiece in every other sense
Welcome to Silent Hill!
Acho que genuinamente, esse foi um dos jogos que mais me deu medo, mesmo sendo já um jogo "DATADO".
A primeira coisa que mais me encantou foi a atmosfera do game, quem já jogou a intro, provavelmente vai saber do que to falando. É impossível NÃO se sentir imersivo e assustado só com aquela intro. Tudo é muito estranho, pois o personagem já chega em uma cidade totalmente sem presença de qualquer ser humano comum e com uma neblina tão intensa que não te permite ver nada, o personagem e a gente já ta mais perdido do que cego em tiroteio, enquanto você persegue o que você acha ser uma pessoa. Sempre fui apaixonado pelo gênero de terror, ainda mais aqueles que exploram um desconhecido tão absurdo que nem é retratado aqui. Uma mistura de obras do Stephen King (como O Nevoeiro por exemplo, servindo como inspiração pro game). Talvez por isso que, mesmo com uma hora de jogo, eu já estava apaixonado por aquele clima e a tensão que o jogo passava mesmo nas Safe Zones, eu já estava desesperado pra sair daquela cidade e ter paz. Os cenários são horripilantes, e capazes de arrepiar todos os cabelos do corpo.
A trilha sonora contribuiu muito também para a imersão... sem brincadeira, acho que não tem uma música ruim ou medíocre nesse jogo, todas são nível BOM pra cima (uma pena não ter nem metade delas disponível em plataformas de música). Destaque para a música "Not Tomorrow", que toca em uma respectiva cena do jogo e que te faz entrar na maior tristeza do mundo (estou escutando ela agora enquanto escrevo isso, admito... estou arrepiado). Akira Yamaoka foi quem fez não só a trilha desse jogo, mas parece que também fez dos próximos três jogos da franquia, eu não ouvi muito, mas do pouco que já experimentei, digo sem tremer, que esse cara é um gênio.
O contexto da narrativa é simples, uma pessoa pela qual você se importa desaparece no meio da cidade e naquela neblina, e você tem que salvá-la e ir embora. A partir dai a história vai se desestruturando com elementos sobrenaturais. Não quero me adentrar muito, justamente para evitar spoilers, mas é muito interessante todo o desenrolar da narrativa, tem muita interpretação e o ritmo é constante, só teve dois momentos que eu senti uma enroladinha que foi a parte dos ESGOTOS (quem jogou talvez entenda do porque pra mim, essas partes prejudicarem o ritmo da gameplay e história). A narrativa por mais que seja interessante e excelente, ela ainda tem um problema que é a falta de informação que o jogo fornece. Existem elementos importantes que vão simplesmente passar batido pelo jogador, não importa quantas vezes você zere, o que acaba impossibilitando alguém de usufruir 100% das camadas que a narrativa apresenta, e foi justamente o que aconteceu comigo, às vezes parece que o jogo deixa mais perguntas do que responde, até mesmo contexto e background de alguns personagens são deixados de lado até o final. A pessoa que zerou e se interessou pelo jogo, tem que fazer um puta TCC pra adentrar de fato na história (o problema é que também tem muita desinformação espalhada pela internet sobre o enredo desse jogo, inclusive canais grandes do youtube contando a história de uma maneira totalmente errada), o que pode desmotivar um pouco a pessoa em querer entender mais desse jogo, o que é uma pena, pois é um jogo que tem muito conteúdo pra explorar, pra ler e etc. Existem algumas conveniências de roteiro, que eu entendo que a função deles é pra fazer a história ir pra frente, mas é bem mal feito, e alguns diálogos chegam a ser bem estranhos (a atuação medíocre meio que colabora um pouco para esses diálogos estranhos).
A gameplay do jogo é travada, seja em movimentação, câmera, combate... tudo que envolve a gameplay. A mecânica é semelhante/quase igual aos jogos Survival Horror da época.
A parte técnica do jogo em relação a sound design é decente, mesmo pros dias de hoje, e a direção das cutscenes também não ficam muito pra trás. Falando nas cutscenes, eu elogio e muito as cenas CG desse jogo, por mais que sejam antigas, ainda é legal de ver, é um trabalho bem feito (pra época que foi lançado deve ter sido o ápice).
Acho legal o fato do jogo ser quase um "MUNDO ABERTO" entre muitas aspas. O jogo tem muito lugar pra explorar, lugares que eu inclusive nunca nem vi durante as minhas duas runs, que quando eu vejo que existem eu acabo nem acreditando. Os desenvolvedores se dedicaram muito pra manter uma cidade interessante de se explorar, mas que acaba não te encorajando o suficiente pra tal ato, principalmente perto da segunda metade jogo onde você segue somente um caminho e não tem muito como explorar o mapa por conta de limitações.
Os puzzles são de altíssimo nível e criativos e por mais que eu goste de solucionar, eu sou simplesmente horrível fazendo isso, então admito que usei um guia pra passar de alguns puzzles do game (ressaltando, o fato de eu ter usado o guia não foi demérito do jogo, eu só sou muito ruim em puzzles).
O fator replay do game é alto, o motivo principal é pela história do jogo, onde você tenta jogar mais vezes pra tentar achar mais pistas e entender mais da história e simbolismos, e também pra explorar áreas antes que você não viu (como eu disse antes, o próprio jogo não colabora pra isso)
Minha primeira experiência com Silent Hill que eu tive em toda a minha vida e eu simplesmente não sabia nada do jogo ou da franquia em si, fico grato por finalmente ter tido a oportunidade de jogar. Foi agradável, o que é irônico pra um jogo de terror que tenta te deixar desconfortável. Silent Hill deve ser uma das franquias na qual eu sempre tive muita curiosidade de tentar, mas eu tinha uma extrema preguiça de jogar, pois sabia que a única maneira que tinha, seria através de emuladores e eu nunca tive muita paciência pra mexer com esses programas, mas eu deixei essas frescuras de lado e decidi dar uma chance.... que bom que aconteceu.
PS: não é querendo dizer nada não, mas assim, um remake desse jogo acho que seria mais bem-vindo do que o do 2....
Acho que genuinamente, esse foi um dos jogos que mais me deu medo, mesmo sendo já um jogo "DATADO".
A primeira coisa que mais me encantou foi a atmosfera do game, quem já jogou a intro, provavelmente vai saber do que to falando. É impossível NÃO se sentir imersivo e assustado só com aquela intro. Tudo é muito estranho, pois o personagem já chega em uma cidade totalmente sem presença de qualquer ser humano comum e com uma neblina tão intensa que não te permite ver nada, o personagem e a gente já ta mais perdido do que cego em tiroteio, enquanto você persegue o que você acha ser uma pessoa. Sempre fui apaixonado pelo gênero de terror, ainda mais aqueles que exploram um desconhecido tão absurdo que nem é retratado aqui. Uma mistura de obras do Stephen King (como O Nevoeiro por exemplo, servindo como inspiração pro game). Talvez por isso que, mesmo com uma hora de jogo, eu já estava apaixonado por aquele clima e a tensão que o jogo passava mesmo nas Safe Zones, eu já estava desesperado pra sair daquela cidade e ter paz. Os cenários são horripilantes, e capazes de arrepiar todos os cabelos do corpo.
A trilha sonora contribuiu muito também para a imersão... sem brincadeira, acho que não tem uma música ruim ou medíocre nesse jogo, todas são nível BOM pra cima (uma pena não ter nem metade delas disponível em plataformas de música). Destaque para a música "Not Tomorrow", que toca em uma respectiva cena do jogo e que te faz entrar na maior tristeza do mundo (estou escutando ela agora enquanto escrevo isso, admito... estou arrepiado). Akira Yamaoka foi quem fez não só a trilha desse jogo, mas parece que também fez dos próximos três jogos da franquia, eu não ouvi muito, mas do pouco que já experimentei, digo sem tremer, que esse cara é um gênio.
O contexto da narrativa é simples, uma pessoa pela qual você se importa desaparece no meio da cidade e naquela neblina, e você tem que salvá-la e ir embora. A partir dai a história vai se desestruturando com elementos sobrenaturais. Não quero me adentrar muito, justamente para evitar spoilers, mas é muito interessante todo o desenrolar da narrativa, tem muita interpretação e o ritmo é constante, só teve dois momentos que eu senti uma enroladinha que foi a parte dos ESGOTOS (quem jogou talvez entenda do porque pra mim, essas partes prejudicarem o ritmo da gameplay e história). A narrativa por mais que seja interessante e excelente, ela ainda tem um problema que é a falta de informação que o jogo fornece. Existem elementos importantes que vão simplesmente passar batido pelo jogador, não importa quantas vezes você zere, o que acaba impossibilitando alguém de usufruir 100% das camadas que a narrativa apresenta, e foi justamente o que aconteceu comigo, às vezes parece que o jogo deixa mais perguntas do que responde, até mesmo contexto e background de alguns personagens são deixados de lado até o final. A pessoa que zerou e se interessou pelo jogo, tem que fazer um puta TCC pra adentrar de fato na história (o problema é que também tem muita desinformação espalhada pela internet sobre o enredo desse jogo, inclusive canais grandes do youtube contando a história de uma maneira totalmente errada), o que pode desmotivar um pouco a pessoa em querer entender mais desse jogo, o que é uma pena, pois é um jogo que tem muito conteúdo pra explorar, pra ler e etc. Existem algumas conveniências de roteiro, que eu entendo que a função deles é pra fazer a história ir pra frente, mas é bem mal feito, e alguns diálogos chegam a ser bem estranhos (a atuação medíocre meio que colabora um pouco para esses diálogos estranhos).
A gameplay do jogo é travada, seja em movimentação, câmera, combate... tudo que envolve a gameplay. A mecânica é semelhante/quase igual aos jogos Survival Horror da época.
A parte técnica do jogo em relação a sound design é decente, mesmo pros dias de hoje, e a direção das cutscenes também não ficam muito pra trás. Falando nas cutscenes, eu elogio e muito as cenas CG desse jogo, por mais que sejam antigas, ainda é legal de ver, é um trabalho bem feito (pra época que foi lançado deve ter sido o ápice).
Acho legal o fato do jogo ser quase um "MUNDO ABERTO" entre muitas aspas. O jogo tem muito lugar pra explorar, lugares que eu inclusive nunca nem vi durante as minhas duas runs, que quando eu vejo que existem eu acabo nem acreditando. Os desenvolvedores se dedicaram muito pra manter uma cidade interessante de se explorar, mas que acaba não te encorajando o suficiente pra tal ato, principalmente perto da segunda metade jogo onde você segue somente um caminho e não tem muito como explorar o mapa por conta de limitações.
Os puzzles são de altíssimo nível e criativos e por mais que eu goste de solucionar, eu sou simplesmente horrível fazendo isso, então admito que usei um guia pra passar de alguns puzzles do game (ressaltando, o fato de eu ter usado o guia não foi demérito do jogo, eu só sou muito ruim em puzzles).
O fator replay do game é alto, o motivo principal é pela história do jogo, onde você tenta jogar mais vezes pra tentar achar mais pistas e entender mais da história e simbolismos, e também pra explorar áreas antes que você não viu (como eu disse antes, o próprio jogo não colabora pra isso)
Minha primeira experiência com Silent Hill que eu tive em toda a minha vida e eu simplesmente não sabia nada do jogo ou da franquia em si, fico grato por finalmente ter tido a oportunidade de jogar. Foi agradável, o que é irônico pra um jogo de terror que tenta te deixar desconfortável. Silent Hill deve ser uma das franquias na qual eu sempre tive muita curiosidade de tentar, mas eu tinha uma extrema preguiça de jogar, pois sabia que a única maneira que tinha, seria através de emuladores e eu nunca tive muita paciência pra mexer com esses programas, mas eu deixei essas frescuras de lado e decidi dar uma chance.... que bom que aconteceu.
PS: não é querendo dizer nada não, mas assim, um remake desse jogo acho que seria mais bem-vindo do que o do 2....
This review contains spoilers
It's really impressive that such a big, artistic game was released all the way back on the PS1. The rich atmosphere is created through it's ambitious, detailed and yet stylised environments, great music and ambience and some wonderful camera angles, especially in that first alley scene, you know which one I mean. I love the PS1 graphics, and here they are at their best. It's no coincidence that so many indie horror games are now created in this visual style. It complements the atmosphere very well. The story is intriguing, kind of let down by the cheesy voice acting. There were some touching moments though, in particular Lisa's transformation or whatever that was. An additional bonus for me is the lack of overbearing metroidvania mechanics. There wasn't really that much backtracking in this one, especially compared to something like the original RE. It is a big game though. The map is big and the use of fog allows for that, while also creating a unique atmosphere. The environments are detailed. There are multiple endings to the game. i missed the whole Kauffman side-quest and got the bad ending. Just the fact that there is an optional side-quest that changes the ending in a game from '99 is impressive. Overall, I recommend giving the original SH a try. Don't be discouraged by it's age.
Dahlia Gillespie is hardcore for walking around on all these rusted metal grates barefoot
Iconic classic horror game, unmatched and scary even on a PS1. Now Resident Evil as a series never truly felt the scary in this way, it was more about inventory management, oh god can I survive, tenseness of that and such. Silent Hill however has always been scarier on a deeper psychological level and this game alone proves and starts that, it's a beautiful game with beautiful visuals. Maybe this is just me but the fact that it's lower poly makes it scarier in some aspects, perhaps it's cuz it makes you use your imagination more? Tho that is something the sequels also do, maybe the fact that they look less like real human beings and such makes everything seem inhuman and disconnected in a way (but in a good way!). Either way, great start to a beautiful series.
I went for and got the GOOD+ ending.
I went for and got the GOOD+ ending.
trying to stop procastinating doing other stuff and actually play a game, i decided to play a game called silent hill...
first off, the atmosphere here is hands down one of the best ive ever played in any game ever (as you no doubt have heard said many many times). whether it's in the obscured streets of silent hill or the bloody, rusty otherworld, you will constantly be on the edge of your seat. there isn't a moment where i felt entirely comfortable aside from that ending sequence. the sound design is also a major factor to how tension works in this game - the ringing, alongside the eraserhead-esque scratching each time an enemy is within your vicinity are really unsettling, especially with interior locations where the sprawling hallways obscure your vision. the rather limiting controls of the game also contribute to this: it wasn't until the final quarter of the game that i figured out how to use l2 to widen your pov, and until that point you better believe i was turning the r stick every time i heard that damn ringing, trying to find whatever nightmarish creature was laying in wait just out of view. in a strange way the ps1's graphical limitations also add to the vibe of the game - the low-poly models sort of add to the dreamlike (nightmarish?) quality of the game and sh1 makes really good use of it. the story doesn't overstay its welcome with minimal dialogue and a fairly straightforward story although almost lynchian way of communicating information. some pretty good characters as well...harry has gotta be one of the realest dads ever...
based on what i've heard i am very much looking forward to silent hill 2. see you then...
first off, the atmosphere here is hands down one of the best ive ever played in any game ever (as you no doubt have heard said many many times). whether it's in the obscured streets of silent hill or the bloody, rusty otherworld, you will constantly be on the edge of your seat. there isn't a moment where i felt entirely comfortable aside from that ending sequence. the sound design is also a major factor to how tension works in this game - the ringing, alongside the eraserhead-esque scratching each time an enemy is within your vicinity are really unsettling, especially with interior locations where the sprawling hallways obscure your vision. the rather limiting controls of the game also contribute to this: it wasn't until the final quarter of the game that i figured out how to use l2 to widen your pov, and until that point you better believe i was turning the r stick every time i heard that damn ringing, trying to find whatever nightmarish creature was laying in wait just out of view. in a strange way the ps1's graphical limitations also add to the vibe of the game - the low-poly models sort of add to the dreamlike (nightmarish?) quality of the game and sh1 makes really good use of it. the story doesn't overstay its welcome with minimal dialogue and a fairly straightforward story although almost lynchian way of communicating information. some pretty good characters as well...harry has gotta be one of the realest dads ever...
based on what i've heard i am very much looking forward to silent hill 2. see you then...
ENVELHECEU BEM! O mais divertido de se jogar da trilogia! Ao mesmo tempo que apresenta topicos e ideias complexas para a epoca, consegue ter êxito também no simples.
+ Gráficos que com a popularização low poly conseguem agradar.
+ História interessante com temas enigmáticos.
+ Andar por silent hill é MUITO DIVERTIDO!
+ Boss fights aceitáveis (a 1ª é bem legalzinha)
+ Cenários absurdos.
+ OST de respeito.
+ Puzzles
+ Gráficos que com a popularização low poly conseguem agradar.
+ História interessante com temas enigmáticos.
+ Andar por silent hill é MUITO DIVERTIDO!
+ Boss fights aceitáveis (a 1ª é bem legalzinha)
+ Cenários absurdos.
+ OST de respeito.
+ Puzzles
𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟑 𝐒𝐩𝐨𝐨𝐤𝐞𝐲 𝐒𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐨𝐧 𝐌𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐨𝐧
𝟏𝟖# 𝐒𝐢𝐥𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐇𝐢𝐥𝐥
It feels weird finally playing a game that set the foundation for a lot of games I admire.
Silent Hill is a game I really really liked but didn’t really leave as much of an impact on me then I thought it would’ve. I think that might be from the fact that I’ve seen so many games in the past decades do what SH did either better or worse cough cough BlooberTeam cough cough.
Now that’s not to say the game itself is unoriginal because of time because it’s not. For PS1 the visuals still hold up extremely well and almost every location of Silent Hill has this intense foreboding atmosphere that looks so thick and cold, the mere action of just walking down the lone street of Silent Hill left me with such an intense feeling of dread and loneliness I almost felt the urge to turn on music in the background to calm my nerves. Speaking of music, the atmosphere is made ten times more unnerving thanks to the score made by Akira Yamaoka who just…..how do I even describe what the music made me feel? Scared isn’t the term I’d use but I can’t say it made me calm either, the tracks he made leave me with this lingering sense of paranoia; like at any moment something will jump out from the foggy darkness to get me. All the while for the quieter moments to have no music at all, you can hear your own footsteps and your radio occasional stuttering out with garbled static whitenose, which is a warning sign for monsters being nearby but that’s it. Just that dead silence of nothing but your own footsteps and radio, in sometimes pitch black darkness for minutes on end, it’s horrifying, and I love it.
I don’t know if I always expected Silent Hill 1 to have the same kind of psychological horror in the same vein as 2 and 3 but needless to say I was a little disappointed that it didn’t go nearly as in depth into the psychological aspect that I guess I was expecting but that’s not a fault of the game that’s a me thing. There are still small little bits scattered throughout the game that gave me a small taste of what I was expecting from this game but that’s mostly all they are, small bits from a story I honestly didn’t really like. I don’t wanna say I didn’t like the story and character because honestly I don’t hate it. I think Harry Mason is a great protagonist and audience surrogate, I thought Cybil was a great as one of the only level headed people in the town helping Harry keep himself grounded, I thought Kaufmann had that proper amount of untrustworthy slime you’d want from a self-centered sketchy individual like him, and Lisa……well…….I think the less told about her the better. All the characters are memorable and well written, and even if the voice acting is very 5th gen it’d argue it adds more to their characters regardless if it was good or not. Now about that comment I made about not liking the story; well that’s kinda true but also not, I don’t hate the story because honestly besides the aspects I think deflates the narrative I still think the backstory and paranoiac nature of the town and it’s residence draws me in so much more than what's actually going on during the events of the game, and once I got a ferm understand of the events unfolding and why the town was in the state that's it in I lost all interest, it just fell apart like a house of cards. I can’t say what it is without spoiling but if you know me and my distaste in a certain trope that a lot of horror narratives use then you can probably guess what is it, and if you know nothing about me and can’t guess you’ll just have to take me at my word and play the game yourself and form your own opinion.
Even though the game didn’t stick with me as much as other players and the main story left me really disappointed I still think this is a pretty great time and I’d still recommend it, it has it’s fair share of PS1 jank but I think most players will get used to it and once you get past that hurdle your in for one of the most paranoia inducing games in the PS1.
𝟏𝟖# 𝐒𝐢𝐥𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐇𝐢𝐥𝐥
It feels weird finally playing a game that set the foundation for a lot of games I admire.
Silent Hill is a game I really really liked but didn’t really leave as much of an impact on me then I thought it would’ve. I think that might be from the fact that I’ve seen so many games in the past decades do what SH did either better or worse cough cough BlooberTeam cough cough.
Now that’s not to say the game itself is unoriginal because of time because it’s not. For PS1 the visuals still hold up extremely well and almost every location of Silent Hill has this intense foreboding atmosphere that looks so thick and cold, the mere action of just walking down the lone street of Silent Hill left me with such an intense feeling of dread and loneliness I almost felt the urge to turn on music in the background to calm my nerves. Speaking of music, the atmosphere is made ten times more unnerving thanks to the score made by Akira Yamaoka who just…..how do I even describe what the music made me feel? Scared isn’t the term I’d use but I can’t say it made me calm either, the tracks he made leave me with this lingering sense of paranoia; like at any moment something will jump out from the foggy darkness to get me. All the while for the quieter moments to have no music at all, you can hear your own footsteps and your radio occasional stuttering out with garbled static whitenose, which is a warning sign for monsters being nearby but that’s it. Just that dead silence of nothing but your own footsteps and radio, in sometimes pitch black darkness for minutes on end, it’s horrifying, and I love it.
I don’t know if I always expected Silent Hill 1 to have the same kind of psychological horror in the same vein as 2 and 3 but needless to say I was a little disappointed that it didn’t go nearly as in depth into the psychological aspect that I guess I was expecting but that’s not a fault of the game that’s a me thing. There are still small little bits scattered throughout the game that gave me a small taste of what I was expecting from this game but that’s mostly all they are, small bits from a story I honestly didn’t really like. I don’t wanna say I didn’t like the story and character because honestly I don’t hate it. I think Harry Mason is a great protagonist and audience surrogate, I thought Cybil was a great as one of the only level headed people in the town helping Harry keep himself grounded, I thought Kaufmann had that proper amount of untrustworthy slime you’d want from a self-centered sketchy individual like him, and Lisa……well…….I think the less told about her the better. All the characters are memorable and well written, and even if the voice acting is very 5th gen it’d argue it adds more to their characters regardless if it was good or not. Now about that comment I made about not liking the story; well that’s kinda true but also not, I don’t hate the story because honestly besides the aspects I think deflates the narrative I still think the backstory and paranoiac nature of the town and it’s residence draws me in so much more than what's actually going on during the events of the game, and once I got a ferm understand of the events unfolding and why the town was in the state that's it in I lost all interest, it just fell apart like a house of cards. I can’t say what it is without spoiling but if you know me and my distaste in a certain trope that a lot of horror narratives use then you can probably guess what is it, and if you know nothing about me and can’t guess you’ll just have to take me at my word and play the game yourself and form your own opinion.
Even though the game didn’t stick with me as much as other players and the main story left me really disappointed I still think this is a pretty great time and I’d still recommend it, it has it’s fair share of PS1 jank but I think most players will get used to it and once you get past that hurdle your in for one of the most paranoia inducing games in the PS1.
I just had to finish this amazing game once again just to analyze it more and get to appreciate it even more.
Finished it in 5 hours... my first playthrough was i think 9 hours, so this is an amazing progress! : >
Finished it in 5 hours... my first playthrough was i think 9 hours, so this is an amazing progress! : >
harry mason top 10 dads in gaming
Did you ever notice the picture of Cybil inside Harry's neck on the cover art here? Scary stuff!
This shit wasn't silent at all, you walk into half the rooms in this game and get tinnitus from a song clearly composed by Akira Yamaoka dragging a steel chair across Trent Reznor's bathroom floor
The beginning of one of the most popular Konami franchises is filled with such an intense atmosphere, it still leaves me rather uneasy.
While not the first time I play this, it is the first time I went for the Good+ ending. And doing so is... rather bizarre.
My main gripe with this game is some of the puzzles are way too cryptid for me to solve without a guide or looking for a solution (My stupid ass was stuck on that zodiac puzzle for quite a bit... and I didn't understand the piano one at first, neither), and that some of the boss fights that feature flying enemies are just too hard to see where I'm shooting and even assume I'm doing damage properly.
And with those complaints out of the way...
God, the atmosphere in this game is just perfect. The soundtrack is fairly ambient early on, and whenever the "Other World" appears it just hits you with these industrial sounds that are the equivalent of the symphonic representation of a world ending.
I also love how this game reminds me of Twin Peaks. Not just because of the "Small Town filled with mysteries" thing going for it, but some of the side-plots here match a few events in the show as well. This obviously lacks that David Lynch weirdness, but it sure makes it up in a matching simplicity that only small towns can offer a person.
I really enjoyed the main plot in this one as well. It's simple, yes, but it also just escalates in such a way that you can almost match Harry Mason's confusion as you go on this journey with him.
Truly one of the greatest games in the PSX catalogue, and one I will be revisiting later on so I can get the UFO ending and testing the new weapons.
While not the first time I play this, it is the first time I went for the Good+ ending. And doing so is... rather bizarre.
My main gripe with this game is some of the puzzles are way too cryptid for me to solve without a guide or looking for a solution (My stupid ass was stuck on that zodiac puzzle for quite a bit... and I didn't understand the piano one at first, neither), and that some of the boss fights that feature flying enemies are just too hard to see where I'm shooting and even assume I'm doing damage properly.
And with those complaints out of the way...
God, the atmosphere in this game is just perfect. The soundtrack is fairly ambient early on, and whenever the "Other World" appears it just hits you with these industrial sounds that are the equivalent of the symphonic representation of a world ending.
I also love how this game reminds me of Twin Peaks. Not just because of the "Small Town filled with mysteries" thing going for it, but some of the side-plots here match a few events in the show as well. This obviously lacks that David Lynch weirdness, but it sure makes it up in a matching simplicity that only small towns can offer a person.
I really enjoyed the main plot in this one as well. It's simple, yes, but it also just escalates in such a way that you can almost match Harry Mason's confusion as you go on this journey with him.
Truly one of the greatest games in the PSX catalogue, and one I will be revisiting later on so I can get the UFO ending and testing the new weapons.
Some quick notes after finishing this:
Nothing special in terms of gameplay mechanics - would even go as far as to call the gameplay systems kind of boring at points - but more than makes up for it with some of the most masterfully rendered ambience I’ve seen in a game.
Truly frightening and unsettling throughout which really surprised me. Does this without relying on shocking horror imagery or jump scares but through masterfully designed environments, sound design, and oh man the camera angles in this game are so unsettling. One of the only games I’ve ever played to make use of forced camera angles for emotional effect. Seeing the camera zoom out to an unnatural angle made my heart race almost every time which is kind of astounding.
Very clear Twin Peaks influence (see the fantastic ending credits and a lot of the brilliantly composed and produced music for reference), but this is more than welcome.
Will probably have to play a second time before I can comment on the story. Told in a rather fragmented and disorienting way, which was a good choice for this game I think, but this caused me to spend most of my energy trying to piece together what was happening. I don’t think I comment on presence of effective symbolism or subtext without going in a second time already knowing the broad strokes of the plot.
Overall a really special game. Not one that I had a blast playing but one that I have a lot of respect for and certainly deserves its reputation as an incredibly creative, artful, and effective piece of horror media.
Nothing special in terms of gameplay mechanics - would even go as far as to call the gameplay systems kind of boring at points - but more than makes up for it with some of the most masterfully rendered ambience I’ve seen in a game.
Truly frightening and unsettling throughout which really surprised me. Does this without relying on shocking horror imagery or jump scares but through masterfully designed environments, sound design, and oh man the camera angles in this game are so unsettling. One of the only games I’ve ever played to make use of forced camera angles for emotional effect. Seeing the camera zoom out to an unnatural angle made my heart race almost every time which is kind of astounding.
Very clear Twin Peaks influence (see the fantastic ending credits and a lot of the brilliantly composed and produced music for reference), but this is more than welcome.
Will probably have to play a second time before I can comment on the story. Told in a rather fragmented and disorienting way, which was a good choice for this game I think, but this caused me to spend most of my energy trying to piece together what was happening. I don’t think I comment on presence of effective symbolism or subtext without going in a second time already knowing the broad strokes of the plot.
Overall a really special game. Not one that I had a blast playing but one that I have a lot of respect for and certainly deserves its reputation as an incredibly creative, artful, and effective piece of horror media.
It's amazing, tank controls aside this game really surprised me. The visuals work so well on the limited playstation 1, the wobbly graphics, low resolution and deep darks and fogs realy immerse you like no other recent title. This game feels so avant garde, the way it uses the radio sound to contextualize the enemy presence/threat feels natural and seamless. The soundtrack really goes off the rails sounding like white noise or machinery sometimes it makes you question if it really is a generator working or a giant monster lurking in the dark. The gameplay starts off rough (at least for me), as im not used to tank controls but once u get the hang of it (around the school area) the game really opens up as you explore from place to place, the walk animation that at the beginning seemed off starts to feel like second nature. The level design and progression is really interesting, going for a maze like structure while u look for keys and puzzles while trying to avoid enemies, its simple but really enjoyable not what i was expecting from what i hear from the game. The story is fine, the voice acting is the usual for 1999 which is not so good, but mostly enjoyable for what it is. The narrative is good enough to keep you going and giving excuses to explore the new spaces you go to, and at the end gets really intriguing as it starts throwing questions at you and if what you are seeing is real or not, who is alessa, what is lisa here and why is she the only one here.
Overall it was really an amazing surprise, i was not expecting it to be so good, cause this game usually gets overshadowed by Silent Hill 2, but i gotta say i really had a lot of fun playing it (even though i initially got the bad ending)
Overall it was really an amazing surprise, i was not expecting it to be so good, cause this game usually gets overshadowed by Silent Hill 2, but i gotta say i really had a lot of fun playing it (even though i initially got the bad ending)
Incredible atmosphere and scares that hold up today thanks to the wonderful art direction. Love its multiple endings and how quickly you can get to them once you know the routes through the game.
The experimental and unique nature of Silent Hill is what really makes it stand out for me. For the time, I'm sure the ambition to push the boundaries of horror felt so completely new and unique compared to other games in the genre. Now, 24 years later, playing this game (through an emulator) still feels just as fresh and new. Even with its outdated and challenging controls, everything about Silent Hill is fantastically captivating. The atmosphere is so thick and dizzying that it really emphasizes the immersion and connection to the decaying town. I really love games that make the setting a character, and this game is one of the best examples of defining it exceptionally well. Also, the music is so, so insane in this game. Rather than it being more direct tracks, the harsh and frightening industrial tones make the game scarier and scarier, it's simply brilliant. Storywise, the humor and craziness never seem to cease, while underlying it with a deeply tragic twist. Personally, I'd say play this one after 2, you'll appreciate it more :)
I found the thick miasma of Silent Hill to be really inviting. It was pleasant to awkwardly ambulate around hazy streets; exhilarating to sprint over rusted grating. I won't say I was never scared, but ultimately I think Silent Hill is all about hanging out and making friends.
Also, that OST/sound design!!!!! There needs to be a Xiu Xiu Plays the Music of Silent Hill someday. So cool.
Also, that OST/sound design!!!!! There needs to be a Xiu Xiu Plays the Music of Silent Hill someday. So cool.
if this is you, stay far away from this game. i, however, live for the clunk. crave it even.
but yeah, this game is fire. although, i did get to the point where i just stopped attempting to kill enemies while roaming the world because it felt like a waste of resources. but ultimately, that is a minor complaint in a game with many things that i loved. i can tell this is a game that will leave an imprint on my brain for a while.
but yeah, this game is fire. although, i did get to the point where i just stopped attempting to kill enemies while roaming the world because it felt like a waste of resources. but ultimately, that is a minor complaint in a game with many things that i loved. i can tell this is a game that will leave an imprint on my brain for a while.